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10 fun school holiday DIY Projects for kids

Jan 4, 2016

The school holidays are a great time to have a go at some DIY projects with kids. Not only do they keep the kids occupied whilst learning new skills and experimenting with ideas, but they can create some really cool games and activities for very little cost.

My kids feel a real sense of pride and accomplishment from being able to take a bunch of simple objects and put them together in a way that creates something new. This is what DIY is all about, creating and making things. As the number 1 destination for DIY, Bunnings is the place to go to get everything you need and their fun kid-friendly environment, with miniature trolleys, face painting, kids playgrounds and more, makes it the ideal location to pick up everything you need for your DIY projects with the whole family.

We recently discovered that the Bunnings website has a huge range of fun projects for the kids, with easy to follow video tutorials. Perfect for gaining inspiration and getting ideas for new projects! We've browsed through the kids DIY projects on their website and have made a list of 10 of our favourites! Here they are. (We've already made one of them and the kids think it's the coolest thing they've ever made!)

1) Make a Catapult Target Game

When the kids saw this DIY project, they really wanted to make it! I loved the engineering side of the project and also that the addition of the paper-plates and numbers, turned it into a great maths game! (Not that the kids saw it that way.)

Below you can see how ours came together after watching the video. You can watch Bunnings' full catapult target game video tutorial here. I found that once my six year-old had watched the video, I didn't need to be too involved. She was quite capable of putting it together herself.

Materials:

Small piece of wood

peg

craft stick

bottle-top

craft glue (one that can bond multi-materials)

paper plates

markers or paint

Glue your peg to your wooden block. (I recommend a peg with more surface area to glue down than we used here. It will adhere better. I added some super-glue around the edge of our peg to ensure it stayed stuck)

Glue your craft stick onto your peg. (Press carefully if applying while the glue between the peg and wood is still wet)

While waiting for the glue to dry, design your target boards and put the scores on each one. You can paint them or use markers. Use any numbers that you like. For younger kids, three plates numbered 1-3 would work well.

Glue your bottle-top on to the craft stick. When dry, it's ready!

My kids decided that pom-poms would be perfect to use with our catapult. If you don't have any pom-poms, scrunched balls of paper work well.

Set out your targets. You will have to experiment with positioning. This catapult can fling higher and further than imagined!

Ready, aim, fire!

Lovely to watch the concentration and cooperation.

I enjoyed watching all the experimenting with catapult positioning and how far to pull back on the catapult to get the desired distance. They definitely got better with practice.

As we made the catapult, my kids came up with lots of different ways that we could also make other catapults, or ways that we could get a better performance or quicker result. They were a little frustrated waiting for the glue to dry, which led us to talking about how we could make a similar catapult without any glue! These thought processes are so important for children to experience but in order for this to happen, they need to actually make and do things themselves, not just watch them being done.

2) Make a Skipping Rope

My daughter thought the idea of making your own skipping rope would be brilliant! Probably because she could make it the perfect length for her, unlike the bought one that we had to put knots at the handles in because of being too long. We thought that the way they make the handles was really cool! We've not done a lot of woodwork, so this would be great for developing some new skills. See the How to Make a Skipping Rope tutorial video here.

3) Make a Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Great for travelling or a few peaceful minutes while dinner's cooking is a cute portable tic-tac-toe game. No need to buy one though when the kids could make their own version. We love the use of rocks for the pieces! Check out how to make a Tic-Tac-Toe Game tutorial video here.

6) Make a Pencil Case

7) Make a Pin Wheel

My kids are always attracted to pin-wheels when we're out and about but they're actually really easy to make! These would look great out in the backyard. See the Make a Pin Wheel video tutorial here.

8) Make a Felt Dart Board

We loved this Make a Felt Dart Board tutorial. It looks much easier to make than I would have thought and I know that my kids would have hours of fun aiming for the different numbers and colours. A great indoor project and activity.

9) Make a Ring Toss Game

10) Make a Wall Decoration

Whilst we love making useful items, sometimes just creating something beautiful and decorative can be really rewarding. They can often make lovely gifts as well. We love the potential that this simple wall decoration DIY has. Easy to make but with so many different ways to customise to suit you or your child's creative flair! See the Wall Decoration DIY video here.

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One of the fabulous things about attempting DIY projects like these is that over the process of making, you learn and are able to change things to suit yourself. Through experimenting, you often come up with new ideas or plans for how you could adapt the projects to get the result that you are after. So much to learn and explore!

You can see all the rest of Bunnings' kids DIY project videos here. They have a really large range! We found that watching the videos really showed the kids how easily most of these could be put together and inspired them to want to have a go.
Bunnings also run plenty of events and kids DIY workshops in store, especially over the school holidays, so check out the website for details.

Happy playing,

Debs :)

{Disclosure: this is a paid post for Bunnings Warehouse sponsored by Nuffnang.As always, opinions expressed in this post are my own.}